Maisey Yates - Bad News Cowboy

“I thought I’d stop by and see if you had time for lunch. I’m in town grocery shopping and things. Generally killing time.”

Kate cleared her throat, feeling unaccountably guilty and as if she’d been caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Her hand had been nowhere near Jack’s cookie jar. She had no cookies. So that was ridiculous. Still, her face was all hot. “Sorry, I can’t take a break yet. No one’s here to relieve me for another hour.”

Liss wrinkled her nose. “Okay. I’d love to wait for you, but I can’t. I need fried fish with more malt vinegar than one person should reasonably consume. And I need it now.”

“Yeah, go eat. I’m fine.”

Liss did not leave. Instead she stood there, rocking back on her heels, bunching her lips up and pulling them to the side before taking a deep breath. “Kate, I love Jack like a brother. You know that.”

Deeply uncomfortable anticipation gathered at the base of Kate’s skull and crawled upward, making her scalp prickle. “Yes. I know that.”

“He’s bad news, Kate. I mean, as far as women are concerned. Nobody’s going to reform him. Not even you.”

Kate inhaled, preparing to say something. To protest. But instead she ended up choking. She covered her mouth, trying to minimize the coughing fit that followed. When she straightened, tears were running down her cheeks and her throat felt raw. Liss had made no move to help her; rather, she was just standing there looking at her. “Why exactly did you think I needed that warning?” she asked, her voice sounding thin and reedy now, certainly not convincing.

“I see the way you look at him.”

“Can you look at someone a certain way? I just thought I was looking at him like I look at any normal human.” Lies.

“If you don’t need the warning, feel free to ignore me. But if there’s any chance you might need it, take it.”

Kate was just completely done being treated like everyone’s little sister. “Thank you,” she said, her voice tight. “I will keep that in mind just in case. Though I’m not sure if you noticed, but I’m not sixteen anymore. Or twelve.”

Liss was not cowed. “I did notice. And I bet I’m not the only one. Which is what concerns me. Older, more experienced women than you have suffered a bad case of the Jacks.”

“I’ve known him my entire life. I think it’s safe to say I’m immune.” Lies. Lies. Lies.

“Forget I said anything. Unless you need to remember that I said this,” Liss said, looking extremely skeptical.

“Okay. Should I ever feel like I’m in danger from Jack, I will remember this.”

“Great.” Liss continued gazing at her for longer than was strictly necessary. “Okay. I’m going to go eat.”

“Great. Enjoy your vinegar.”

“I will. In fact, I have to go quickly so that I don’t die.”

“Don’t die. Feed my little niece or nephew.”

Liss smiled, the weirdness from a moment ago dissipating. “Oh, I definitely will. No worries about the baby skipping meals. Or even going a couple of hours without. See you later, Kate.”

And Liss left, leaving Kate there alone to examine both what had just happened between Jack and herself and Liss’s observations.

She didn’t really care what Liss thought about Jack and whether or not he was good or bad news. Because that had nothing to do with how she felt about Jack. She was attracted to him. She didn’t want forever and ever and a picket fence with him.

Still, she was a little bit unnerved that Liss seemed to read her so well. It made her wonder if Connor and Eli could read her just as plainly.

She immediately dismissed that. Unless it was printed on the back of a cereal box, neither of her brothers were going to read too deeply into anything.

Anyway, there was nothing deep to read.

It was just a case of a little harmless desire. And if given the chance, she imagined she could burn it out nicely.

A slow smile crossed her lips. Yes, that was what she wanted.

And with her decision made, Kate went happily back to work.

* * *

JACK DID HIS absolute damnedest not to reflect on anything that had passed between Kate and himself in the past twenty-four hours. Because he was sitting in his living room with her two older brothers, his very best friends, men who were like brothers to him. Men who would snap him in half like a matchstick if they had any idea of the thoughts that had run through his mind earlier this morning.

No matter how fleeting said thoughts were.

They had been brief, but they had been way, way outside the boundaries of Safe Kate Thoughts.

For a moment there, when she’d curled her fingers through his hair, those serious dark eyes on his... Yeah, for a moment there he’d thought about cupping the back of her head and closing the distance between them...

And he was going to stop thinking now.

He heard a sudden and violent outburst of profanity and realized he’d missed something on the game.

“Pass interference my ass!” Connor shouted.

“Must be nice to have the refs in your pocket,” Eli grumbled, leaning back on the couch.

“Yeah,” Jack said, only pretending to have any clue what was happening.

Connor snorted. “I just got a profane text from Liss.”

“Is she watching the game in between female bonding moments?” Eli asked.

“You don’t think Sadie is watching the game?” Connor asked.

“She pays just enough attention to football to irritate all of us. Though I imagine that if Kate is around, she and Liss will have banded together to commandeer the remote.”

“Had we opted to watch the game as a group, I imagine she would have showed up wearing orange and black and rooting for the Beavers. Even though they aren’t playing.”

“You chose a real winner there, Eli,” Jack said, happy to be on any topic other than the one his brain seemed intent on focusing on.

“Our love transcends football,” Eli said, lifting a bottle of beer to his lips.

“And my love for Liss doesn’t have to,” Connor said.

“And I’m single, assholes,” Jack added, grinning broadly.

“I don’t envy you,” Eli said.

“Because you’ve forgotten.”

“Forgotten celibacy? Feeling lonely, depressed.” Connor shook his head. “No, I have not forgotten that.”

“Some of us are not celibate,” Jack said. Though, come to think of it, it had been a lot longer than usual since he’d picked someone up.

Which could explain some of the weirdness between him and Kate.

And now he was back to Kate.

“So you and Kate are working on a charity thing?” Eli asked.

A sharp sensation twinged in his chest. It was almost as though Eli could read his mind. Which was a dangerous thing right now. “Yeah. Has she mentioned much about it?”

“No, not really. I was curious.”

“Well, it isn’t just me and Kate,” he said, feeling unaccountably guilty. “We’ve got the whole amateur association involved. And I’m working toward reconnecting with some contacts in the pro association to get them to help, as well. So it’s a whole group effort.”

“To help Alison?” Connor asked.

His question had a tone to it. A suspicious tone. “Yes. Her and other women in her situation. I’m impressed with what she’s doing, improving not only her situation but the situations of others.” Which didn’t sound defensive at all. Not that he had any reason to feel defensive about Alison. It was the entire situation.

“Is there something going on with her?” This question came from Eli. “You and her, I mean.”

Jack was almost grateful they were so far offtrack. “No. I’m sure she’s lovely but hooking up with vulnerable women is not exactly my thing.” Which was a nice reminder. “They want what I’m not going to give.”